Columbus reports largest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases
Muscogee County reported 190 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the largest single-day increase in confirmed infections since the start of the pandemic.
As of July 10, a total of 2,628 coronavirus cases and 55 deaths have been confirmed in Columbus. Pam Kirkland, spokesperson for the Columbus-based West Central Health District, said the virus continues to spread because people aren’t following guidance from public health officials.
“I talked to one of the epidemiologists ... she said people are just throwing the guidelines out the window,” Kirkland said.
The previous record for a 24-hour increase was 143 cases on June 30.
Columbus’ health district is also home to some of the highest COVID-19 case rates in Georgia: Three counties — Chattahoochee, Stewart and Randolph — rank in the top four. Each county has more than 3,100 cases per 100,000 people.
Mayor Skip Henderson said earlier this week he was considering an order requiring face coverings to be worn while inside government buildings, but a decision hasn’t been made as of Friday. Savannah, Atlanta, Athens and other Georgia cities have implemented recent mask orders.
Hospitalizations continue to increase as well. As of Thursday, 113 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized in Muscogee County, a new record.
Reports from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency show several hospital regions in the state with less than 10 critical care beds available. Columbus’ Region I, which covers Chattahoochee, Clay, Crisp, Dooly, Harris, Macon, Marion, Meriwether, Muscogee, Quitman, Schley, Stewart, Talbot, Taylor, Troup and Webster counties, has 99 total beds. Only 15 of them were not being used as of Friday. The tally includes beds used for all patients, not just COVID-19 patients.
As of July 10, Georgia reported 111,211 cumulative COVID-19 cases and 2,965 deaths.
This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 5:15 PM.